Tandy, James Napper

Tandy, James Napper, 1740–1803, Irish revolutionary. Originally a small tradesman in Dublin, he gained attention by his attacks on municipal corruption and his proposal to boycott English goods as a reprisal for the restrictions placed on Irish commerce. He joined the Irish volunteer army (see Ireland), and he aided Theodore Wolfe Tone in founding (1791) the Dublin branch of the United Irish Society (see United Irishmen). When faced with a sedition charge in 1793, Tandy fled to the United States and then to France (1798), where he was given the title of general. He landed (1798) in Ireland, but when he discovered that the French expedition of General Humbert to aid the Irish rebellion had failed, he fled to Hamburg, where he was arrested. He was returned to Ireland (1800), sentenced to execution, but reprieved through French influence. He died in France. His fame is perpetuated in the Irish ballad “The Wearing of the Green.”

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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